I want to play a Khajit just to see how they explain letting me in the cities and not the trade caravans. Kinda sucks not having cities with a flavor of races (or treating non-Nord like dirt if they are present).. but I gotta give props to Beth for making me miss it.

I want to play a Khajit just to see how they explain letting me in the cities and not the trade caravans.

Yup. I started to play a Khajiit for just that reason and all I got was: "Stay out of trouble Khajiit." and "What do you want... cat?"

I would welcome a little open hostility from the locals, actually. Kinda wish Beth made a similar system like Bioware in Dragon Age: Origins, i.e. despite being a Warden, you would still be treated as dirt if you're an elf amongst humans.

Yup. I started to play a Khajiit for just that reason and all I got was: "Stay out of trouble Khajiit." and "What do you want... cat?"

I would welcome a little open hostility from the locals, actually. Kinda wish Beth made a similar system like Bioware in Dragon Age: Origins, i.e. despite being a Warden, you would still be treated as dirt if you're an elf amongst humans.

Overall it seems like your race matters very little other than the occasional "What do you want little elf?" oneliner from Nord NPCs. Even the Thalmor goons are cackling about elven supremacy and mankind knowing its place while fighting my wood elf.

But I guess most NPCs have better things to do than picking on the weird bosmer that could kill them without lifting a finger.

Speaking of NPC feedback, it would have been a nice touch if the bards in taverns were singing about your feat after finishing the main quest. Vanquishing Alduin, a deity of the Nordic pantheon, does seem like it would be good bards tale material. Sure, they do get a new song after you finish the main quest, but for some reason they're singing about the confrontation between Alduin and Felldir, Hakon and Gormlaith thousands of years ago instead.

Was wondering which side everyone chose (if they have yet) Imperials or Stormcloaks?

I am undecided right now.

I've stayed out of the Civil War entirely on all my characters since neither side has a just cause or sympathetic leadership. No matter which side you'd pick there would be unpleasant consequences.

The Empire:
Seems to be just one step away from total collapse. Rampant corruption, nepotistic rule, the justice system has all but collapsed (they were about to lop your head off without even being accused of anything), having the right connections allows you to get away with anything. Allows the Thalmor to do whatever they want within imperial territories and even lends them a hand on occasion.

If you aid them Maven Black-Briar (the local crime boss) will be installed as Jarl of Riften since she has connections in the Imperial City. (She gets my top vote for #1 NPC to deserve losing her Essential/Unkillable flag.)

The Stormcloaks:
Nord Supremacists, wants to toss out or subjugate all non-Nords in Skyrim. Racists looking down on all who aren't a Nord, which is evident for anyone spending any time talking to people in Windhelm, Ulfric's capital.

After taking back The Reach and Markarth from its native Breton population (who at the time were on the verge of being recognized as a independent kingdom by the Empire) Ulfric ruthlessly persecuted anyone who had cooperated in any way with that kingdom and essentially enslaved the natives, resulting in the forming of the Forsworn movement by survivors who fled into the wilderness. (See the in-game book Bear of Markarth for the history of that.) Ulfric Stormcloak is not a nice guy by any standards. The Greybeards certainly aren't picky who they choose to train in using the Voice.

If you help the Stormcloaks then Thongvor Silver-Blood ends up being Jarl of Markarth. The Silver-Blood family's criminal activities are quite evident in the game, and they look upon the native bretons as little more than slave labor meant to toil in the mines.

...

So yeah. I'll let them kill each other and then build something new and better on the ashes instead when they're done.

I joined the Stormcloaks with my first character, but next I'm going to stay out of the war and try the negotiating a peace treaty option.

Both sides have reasons for and against, I'm sure one of my characters will work for the empire despite that little "misunderstanding" in the prologue.

Peace Treaty? That's an option? I have not played very far through the main story so I'm guessing this will be a later option. I think I'll go for that because it sounds like both sides need to "kiss and make up".

FWIW, I intentionally do the civil war quest before the main quest just to avoid this part. The writing isn't bad, but it's just one more thing in Skyrim that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Yeah, I thought it was really poorly done. Didn't quite know what was happening or who anyone was talking to.

I went Stormcloaks with my first character pretty much just because he's a Nord and the Empire head cutting attempt and everything. It seems like you can only see how douchey each side is after you join them which is pretty annoying. That said though, I thought the quests were at least good fun.

The Creation Kit and Steam Workshop are nearly ready. We’re currently working with members of Valve and our modding community to do some final testing, and we’re on track for a public release near the end of the month.

Oh I hope they fix the bloating issue. Whenever my save gets over 19mb my game crashes in some specific locations. If I manage to lower my save game to about 18.7mb (after eating all my ingredients, food as well as selling all my unused items and sleeping for days and days), everything functions normally again...but I can only do this once or twice as data continues to accumulate Unfortunately it is not clear whether or not they address this issue.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Hessian

She has such a beautiful voice.

I'd be nice if we could hear it...I wonder what it would sound like without the excessive reverb?

I'd be nice if we could hear it...I wonder what it would sound like without the excessive reverb?

Don't pretty much all artists nowadays use tons of sound processing and effects in studio recordings? Doesn't bother me if it fits the song, which I think the kind of ghostly effect it produces does in this case.

(Just makes it troublesome when performing live if you're used to doing a 10 man choir on your own I guess )

Quote:

Originally Posted by Canderis

I hope they fix the forsworn quest issue that keeps me from entering markarth now....

What's the Forsworn Quest Issue? Only problem I've experienced with the Forsworn Conspiracy so far is that if I do it after the local crime syndicate (Silver-Blood) has been installed as Jarl the Stormcloak town guards won't stay dead for more than a few days.

(Well, that and my previously unblemished criminal record getting stuck with a "Largest lifetime bounty" stat of 1000 after doing it. )

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChAiNz.2da

1.4 Patch and CK release coming soon!

Very nice. A shame it took this long though, if it had been available during the christmas holidays I'd have had more time to play around with the construction kit. Still got some modding done, but doing it low-level with FO3 TESsnip and an incomplete NifSkope is rather bothersome.

I just hope they've tested this patch properly too so it doesn't cause more problems than it solves, like the earlier ones. Maybe I can finally take Steam out of Offline Mode then and upgrade from Skyrim v1.1.21

Went with the Stormcloaks because
1) The Imperials were asses
2) It kind of gave me Winter War vibes fighting for the independence of a nordic country
3) I dont like being sentenced to death for no reason

I was very dissappointed when it turned out the Stormies were racist, white power retards and i couldnt just kill everyone...

Saivo´s New demo, A Cruel Northern Land is out! Listen to it on our mikseri.net bandpage.

I got this game just before Christmas, in expectation of the new gaming computer I knew my brother was looking into getting for me. The thing is a beast, especially compared to the other computers I've owned in my life - I've never been able to play a game sooner than a year, even a year and a half, after its original release. So I knew that the first game I played on it had to be one that would blow away anything I'd played before. I believe I chose well.

I chose Imperial as my race, though at the time I was entirely ignorant of base stat boosts and such. My playstyle is called Spellsword, according to a friend of mine who has the official strategy guide: I wear heavy armour (Legendary Daedric, if you're curious), use a sword in one hand (also Legendary Daedric, if I'm not fighting a dragon; Dragonbane if I am) and expert level Destruction Magic in the other.

I joined the Stormcloaks for no other reason than I hate the Thalmor. With a burning passion. I slaughter any I find on the road. It's worth the ~300 septim bribe I hand out to any nearby guards afterwards, just to see those arrogant sods dead. I did find Windhelm's population a disappointment, though, in their random bigotry. Next time I plan on avoiding the civil war sidestory entirely, to be honest. As well as the Dark Brotherhood storyarch, which I've found fairly feable so far to be honest.

My next character will likely be a complete shift in play style. I'll likely go with a Khajit, to take advantage of their stealth and theiving bonuses. Looking forward to it, especially once I get it high enough in level to justify going for the Nightingale armour.

I joined the Stormcloaks for no other reason than I hate the Thalmor. With a burning passion. I slaughter any I find on the road. It's worth the ~300 septim bribe I hand out to any nearby guards afterwards, just to see those arrogant sods dead.

There are thankfully several ways to kill Thalmor without getting a bounty on your head. In most cases you can just talk to them and ask what's wrong with worshipping Talos and they'll attack you first, allowing you to put them out of their misery without getting any bounty.

Also, if you join the Companions in Whiterun and advance far enough in that plotline to be invited into The Circle, you can...

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shapechange into your Werewolf form and tear the Thalmor to pieces. As long as nobody see you changing in or out of your wherewolf form no crimes you commit while in Beast form will be pegged on you. If you do the Hircine quest (starts in the Falkreath prison by talking to the guy in one of the cells) and pick up the Ring of Hircine you can use it to change to werewolf form as many times per day as you wish. If you have a follower, be sure to park them somewhere out of sight before going werewolf though, or they might attack you.

Killing Thalmor squads in werewolf form is pretty easy since your attacks are incredibly powerful. You can often one-hit kill them with the sprint-power attack move.

And there's also the classic Elder Scrolls method of being allowed to kill someone without being considered a criminal, the Frenzy line of Illusion spells. If they don't see you while you cast the spell it won't affect your criminal record, and they'll attack you (and each other) first, allowing you to kill them without legal consequences.

Both sides hate the Thalmor equally, and as a true son of Cyrodiil, I have no problem with both serving the Legion, and slaughtering Thalmor.

True, but the Empire isn't in any hurry to stand up to the Thalmor either. I'm pretty sure it was Mahatma Gandhi who said: "To believe something, but not live it, is dishonest".

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoffe

There are thankfully several ways to kill Thalmor without getting a bounty on your head. In most cases you can just talk to them and ask what's wrong with worshipping Talos and they'll attack you first, allowing you to put them out of their misery without getting any bounty.

I'll have to try that next time - I've just been attacking them on sight, to be honest.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoffe

Also, if you join the Companions in Whiterun and advance far enough in that plotline to be invited into The Circle, you can...

Show spoiler

(hidden content - requires Javascript to show)

shapechange into your Werewolf form and tear the Thalmor to pieces. As long as nobody see you changing in or out of your wherewolf form no crimes you commit while in Beast form will be pegged on you. If you do the Hircine quest (starts in the Falkreath prison by talking to the guy in one of the cells) and pick up the Ring of Hircine you can use it to change to werewolf form as many times per day as you wish. If you have a follower, be sure to park them somewhere out of sight before going werewolf though, or they might attack you.

Killing Thalmor squads in werewolf form is pretty easy since your attacks are incredibly powerful. You can often one-hit kill them with the sprint-power attack move.

I have completed the Companions quest, actually. And I mean completed completed - I've already rid myself of their little secret.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoffe

And there's also the classic Elder Scrolls method of being allowed to kill someone without being considered a criminal, the Frenzy line of Illusion spells. If they don't see you while you cast the spell it won't affect your criminal record, and they'll attack you (and each other) first, allowing you to kill them without legal consequences.

I've used so little Illusion magic that I haven't even seen a Frenzy spelltome yet, to be honest. Or if I have, I've entirely forgotten it. I pretty much only use Destruction, with the occasional Magelight from Alteration when I'm in a dark enough area (Blackreach, for example).

Thanks for the tips, though. I'll definitely have to try egging them into attacking me first.

I've used so little Illusion magic that I haven't even seen a Frenzy spelltome yet, to be honest. Or if I have, I've entirely forgotten it. I pretty much only use Destruction, with the occasional Magelight from Alteration when I'm in a dark enough area (Blackreach, for example).

I *think* Riverwood has a frenzy spell you can buy.. if not, definitely Whiterun mage.

I'm with stoffe on the use with Frenzy. I never really used it much in the other ES games, but something about it just feels right with Skyrim and it's my goto, default spell I have armed at most times (could also be that I'm a squishy rogue so it helps thin the numbers)

I think I saw something on Facebook about him collaborating with Malukah on another Skyrim song.

Indeed they are.

On the killing Thalmor: I don't give a second thought on killing them. I don't even worry about the criminal consequences; I almost never get a bounty for when I do kill them. But in the event that I do, I always have enough gold to pay it off.

While excited, it's a bit on the late side.
Started ToR to fill in the downtime gap and well.. ToR rocks, so sorry Beth. Maybe when I return to Skyrim in a few weeks. Then again, ME3 is right around the corner..

While excited, it's a bit on the late side.
Started ToR to fill in the downtime gap and well.. ToR rocks, so sorry Beth. Maybe when I return to Skyrim in a few weeks. Then again, ME3 is right around the corner..

And Max Payne 3 is right around the corner after that. Fall and winter are already dedicated to GTA V and South Park respectively.

Maybe the DLC (along with a few community patches) may entice me to come back if I have downtime between games this summer, but I suspect that ship has sailed.